Carbon Pulse

Socioeconomic benefits of the voluntary carbon market took centre stage in panels at this year's Climate Week NYC, at times edging out mitigation, as VCM advocates seek to restore the industry’s reputation nearly two years after a series of integrity scandals debilitated the market. VCM discourse surrounding social co-benefits to the industry – nominally entrusted with trading units that genuinely, measurably, and verifiably represent 1 tonne of CO2 avoided, removed, or reduced – is not new. However, sustainable development overtones were notable at this year’s Climate Week, where social benefits were often presented as equal to mitigation as a motivator for traditionally mitigation-oriented carbon trading. Read our take of Climate Week NYC here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ekGdtunV

The top EU and US climate negotiators both signalled their strong desire to finalise negotiations on Article 6 at the UN climate talks in Azerbaijan this year, they said at Climate Week NYC on Wednesday. “We’ll have it in the bag in Baku,” the European Commission’s lead climate negotiator, Jacob Werksman, told an audience in New York. “I met yesterday with our representative from the European Union,” John Podesta, the US climate envoy added at the same conference, following reports of improving negotiations between the two parties. “This is something we have to get done, we need to get done, and we should get done - to finalise negotiations on Article 6 at COP29,” Podesta said. Article 6 of the Paris Agreement lays down UN rules for international carbon markets, including how credits can be traded between nations to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and credited via an in-development mechanism. Countries are under pressure to agree Article 6 at the COP29 meeting in Baku in November, after several years of failed talks. Read our coverage in full 👉 https://lnkd.in/eMNEMV-S

The UK’s international development fund is backing voluntary carbon market (VCM) projects but does not seek to fund Paris Agreement Article 6 initiatives at this time, the group’s climate lead told Carbon Pulse on the sidelines of Climate Week NYC. British International Investment (BII) is a state-owned, partially aid-funded, and privately run financing entity active in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII made £1.3 billion ($1.7 bln) of gross commitments, including £449 million ($600 mln) it labels as climate finance. Read our coverage in full 👉 https://lnkd.in/e_XH__zt

UK energy company Drax has launched a new US-based subsidiary that will spearhead its plans to become a global leader in bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). Elimini, headquartered in Houston, will have day-to-day responsibility for project execution including project development, delivery, marketing, and sales of carbon removal (CDR) credits, power, and deployment of the Group’s multi-billion-dollar global BECCS capex programme. Read our coverage of the announcement in full here 👉 https://lnkd.in/essEgh26

Carbon removal buyers club Frontier has agreed a deal worth over $25 million for credits linked to river de-acidification from a Canadian firm. The agreement, announced Monday, is the first offtake via river liming and will see Frontier receive 55,442 carbon removal units between 2025 and 2029 from CarbonRun. The offtake focuses on rivers acidified by pollution and climate change, where river liming has both carbon removal and ecosystem benefits such as the restoration of salmon and shellfish populations. Read our coverage in full 👉 https://lnkd.in/eQHcQD6p

Net zero commitments across countries, cities, regions, and companies have seen progress, but 40% of non-state entities, including major companies like Tesla, Nintendo, and Berkshire Hathaway, still lack emissions reduction or net zero targets, according to new research. The latest Net Zero Stocktake 2024 report, put together by independent research consortium Net Zero Tracker, found that there has been some limited progress over the past year, with some notable leaders both in the public and private sectors. Read our coverage in full 👉 https://lnkd.in/exXipgCt

Six Carbon Pulse correspondents are en route to New York for Climate Week: Sara Stefanini Alejandra Padín-Dujon Rebecca Gualandi Allison Gacad Giada Ferraglioni and me We've shortlisted around 60 events to attend, so our subscribers can expect solid, unrivalled coverage. Get in touch if you're making an announcement or hosting an event that would be relevant to our readers.

Large volumes of eligible voluntary carbon credits for the UN's CORSIA international aviation offsetting scheme will take years to materialise due to supply requirements that force project developers to guarantee against double claiming risk, even if ICAO approves major standards for the current phase at a meeting in November. Read our analysis of the overlooked CORSIA insurance bottleneck here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e8thZhur

The US is beginning to cede ground in long-running negotiations over Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, showing flexibility on the EU’s demand for strong minimum standards to govern international carbon markets, the bloc's chief climate negotiator said this week. The EU wants “basic standards” in place to ensure that the Paris Agreement’s international carbon markets function as they are intended to, while the US takes a more “laissez faire” approach, according to Jacob Werksman, the EU's lead climate negotiator, speaking at an event organised by Brussels-based think tank ERCST. Read our coverage in full 👉 https://lnkd.in/et7ev66g

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) published an update Wednesday that experts saw as opening the door for corporates to use removals as part of carbon neutralisation claims under the organisation's net-zero standard. SBTi announced it has expanded the scope of the revision to its Corporate Net-Zero Standard to refine the approach to neutralisation, explicitly referring to the role of carbon removals. The organisation is in the process of revising its flagship standard, which has significant implications for corporate engagement with the voluntary carbon market as part of setting science-aligned climate goals. The most recent update underlines the body's intention to clarify the near-term actions companies can take towards meeting the long-term climate goals. Read our coverage in full 👉 https://lnkd.in/dQ6yQ8ku